有声英文阅读-台球的沿革

The Colorful History of Billiards¹
台球的沿革

Anyone who refuses to leave prison simply because they are having too much fun playing billiards would be considered something more than just a diehard fan. Yet that is exactly what a Captain Mingaud did during the French Revolution. Granted, Mingaud was not only playing billiards, he was busy revolutionizing the game.

Though billiards had already been popular for more than 100 years at that time, Mingaud was the first person to round the end of a pool cue with a file and apply a leather tip to it. After prison, Mingaud promptly² proved his invention's superiority over its flat, club-like predecessor³ in exhibitions throughout France. What the captain had developed was essentially⁴ the cue in use today, but the game he generated interest in did not involve shooting balls into pockets.

Pocket billiards such as modern-day pool and snooker were around, but they were considered to be the ill-bred cousins of carom billiards, which used a pocketless table. The name pool was born during the 1840s when billiards was closely identified with gambling⁵ parlors⁶, or "pool parlors" in the lexicon⁷ of the day. The name stuck, and with more than 40 million people playing in America alone last year, so has the game.

Despite its universal popularity and frequent airtime on ESPN with professionally organized tournaments, billiards has rarely enjoyed universal respect.

Before hitting America, billiards already had a spotty history thanks to the likes of hustlers such as Englishman Jack⁸ Carr. Carr, the first person to put chalk on his cue tip, made a fortune peddling⁹ his magic "twisting chalk" around France in the 1820s. The "magic" was actually in Carr's wrist; he was the first player to apply spin to a billiards ball, and the term "English" is still used to denote this move.

In America, billiards had a questionable¹⁰ reputation because of its association with gambling. The 20-year rivalry¹¹ of American pool masters Michael Phelan and Dudley Kavanagh in the late 19th century, however, attracted attention and respect as tournaments became standing-room-only tuxedo¹² affairs. Ironically, the two also started a tradition of conflicting associations governing the game, which now makes all titles suspect, and the Olympics an impossible dream.

Fortunately, legitimacy¹³ and success are not invariably linked. When The Hustler, a 1961 movie starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason, glamorized the shady underworld of pool sharks, business boomed.

Coin-operated pool tables were born just in time to meet the rising demand. Initially¹⁴ found only in bars and bowling¹⁵ alleys¹⁶, the new, smaller tables have taken center stage at packed pool halls from Boston to Beijing.

要是有人因为太爱打台球而不肯出狱，那他们绝对不只是球痴而已。而在法国大革命时期，敏高德上尉正是一个顽固的台球迷。他 不仅玩台球，还忙着改革这项运动。

尽管当时，台球已盛行了百余年，而敏高德却是第一个使用锉刀把球杆尾端磨圆，并用皮子包上的人。出狱后，在法 国的多次展览会上，敏高德很快就证明他的新发明比原先那种平头像球棍的球杆好用。上尉发明的球杆沿用至今，然而当时他引发兴趣的游戏，还未发展到将台球击进球袋的阶段。

“球袋台球”(pocket billiards)如花式、英式台球在当时比比皆是，但却被视为是“教养不良的兄弟台球”（carom billiards),它们的球台没有球袋。“弹子”(pool)这个名词 出现在19世纪40年代，当时台球室和赌场是紧密联系在一起的，以当时的辞汇称之即为“弹子房”。这个名称就保留下来，去年，光是美国就有超过四千万人玩台球，这项运动也常盛不衰。

尽管台球已经风靡世界各地，ESPN也时常转播职业球队的公开赛，但却始终未能赢得世人尊重的目光。

在台球风潮袭卷美洲之前，它已经有了一段发展不平衡的历史，这点，活跃分子诸如英格兰人杰克卡尔等功不可没。卡尔是首位将白垩用于磨削球杆尖端的人，19世纪20年代他还因在法国各地兜售他神奇的“白垩”发了财。事实上真正“神奇”的，是卡尔的手腕：他首创旋转球打法，当时称呼此动作的术语（“侧旋”(English)）也沿用迄今。

在美国，台球因和赌博相联系，名声仍受到质疑。19世纪末，当台球公开赛成了盛装庆事，只能买到站票的时候，美国台球双雄迈克费兰和杜德利卡文纳长达20年之久的 霸，吸引了众人的目光，赢得了尊敬。具讽刺意味的是，他们 两人也开创了有冲突的台球协会间争相控制这种运动的传统，它使得所有的名次难以确定，列入奥运正式比赛项目仍只是一场梦。

好在，合法与成功并没有必然联系。1961年由保罗·纽曼和贾奇·葛利森主演的电影《江湖浪子》，表现了身处阴暗 下层社会台球高手们的魅力，台球生意兴隆起来。投币式的 台球桌也应运而生。这些新型小球　起初只在酒吧、保龄球馆中能找到；现在，从波士顿到北京，在挤满了人的台球场所 里，它俨然成为了主流。

1 billiards   

n.台球

参考例句：

• John used to divert himself with billiards.约翰过去总打台球自娱。
• Billiards isn't popular in here.这里不流行台球。

2 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

3 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

6 parlors   

客厅( parlor的名词复数 )； 起居室； （旅馆中的）休息室； （通常用来构成合成词）店

参考例句：

• It had been a firm specializing in funeral parlors and parking lots. 它曾经是一个专门经营殡仪馆和停车场的公司。
• I walked, my eyes focused into the endless succession of barbershops, beauty parlors, confectioneries. 我走着，眼睛注视着那看不到头的、鳞次栉比的理发店、美容院、糖果店。

7 lexicon   

n.字典，专门词汇

参考例句：

• Chocolate equals sin in most people's lexicon.巧克力在大多数人的字典里等同于罪恶。
• Silent earthquakes are only just beginning to enter the public lexicon.无声地震才刚开始要成为众所周知的语汇。

8 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

9 peddling   

忙于琐事的，无关紧要的

参考例句：

• He worked as a door-to-door salesman peddling cloths and brushes. 他的工作是上门推销抹布和刷子。
• "If he doesn't like peddling, why doesn't he practice law? "要是他不高兴卖柴火，干吗不当律师呢？

10 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

11 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

12 tuxedo   

n.礼服，无尾礼服

参考例句：

• Well,you have your own tuxedo.噢，你有自己的燕尾服。
• Have I told you how amazing you look in this tuxedo?我告诉过你穿这件燕尾服看起来很棒吗？

13 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

14 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

15 bowling   

n.保龄球运动

参考例句：

• Bowling is a popular sport with young and old.保龄球是老少都爱的运动。
• Which sport do you 1ike most,golf or bowling?你最喜欢什么运动，高尔夫还是保龄球？

16 alleys   

胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径

参考例句：

• I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
• The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷，来到城边。